Smith: Piebald deer provide rare, handsome twist to whitetail world

A white-tailed deer with piebald coloration was photographed Feb. 10, 2019 in Lomira, Wisconsin. The coloration is a rare, naturally-occuring trait in deer and other species.(Photo: Lomira Police Department)

Wisconsin is home to more than 1.5 million dairy and beef cows, according to recent statistics, including multiple livestock farms in Dodge County.

So when the Lomira Police Department on Feb. 10 received a report of a calf on the loose near I-41, it didn't seem far fetched.

Indeed, as Sgt. Bryan Frank responded to the call, his primary question might have been: "Holstein or Guernsey?"

But when he arrived at the site, Frank realized the brown-and-white animal grazing along the highway was truly extraordinary.

Although it featured a white head and neck and patches of white on the legs contrasted with brown hair elsewhere on its body — coloration more typical of a dairy cow — it was no bovine.

It was identified as a white-tailed deer.

The deer had a naturally occurring but very rare coloration known as "piebald."

Frank pulled his police cruiser to the shoulder of the heavily traveled highway and snapped a few photos of the deer.

Piebald animals are often considered strikingly handsome. The deer observed in Lomira was no exception.

Social media responses to the images of the animal included: "Never saw anything like this. It’s beautiful!!" and "It does look like a calf, pretty cool looking deer, thanks for sharing. Happy to know it wasn't hit."

Deer, like many animals, can be found in color variations, including albinism (absence of pigment), leucism (partial loss of pigmentation) and melanism (darker than normal coloration).

Piebald is the term for animals with patches of white and areas of normal coloration.

Some species evolved with a dominant two-part color scheme, such as the magpie.

Although the origin of the animal observed in Lomira is in question, the rarity of piebald deer, even in captive herds, is not.

Estimates of white deer range from 1 in 20,000 to less than 1 in 100,000 in a normal deer population.

Piebald deer are so rare a literature search revealed no estimate to their rate of occurrence.

John Bates of Manitowish and Jeff Richter of Mercer have possibly seen more white deer in Wisconsin than any other two people.

The men published a book titled "White Deer, Ghosts of the Forest.” The work, with text by Bates and photographs by Richter, chronicles a herd of deer near Boulder Junction that contains an unusually high number of albino and leucistic animals.

Richter said he has likely photographed 100 different white deer over the last three decades in the fields and forests of northern Wisconsin.

Only once did he see a piebald.

"I can still remember it clearly," Richter said. "With the relatively high number of white deer in our area, you'd have thought I'd have seen more piebalds. But no, it's got to be very, very rare."

Scott Craven, emeritus professor in the department of forest and wildlife ecology at UW-Madison, has spent more than 40 years living, hunting and teaching about wildlife in Wisconsin.

He also spent lots of time at deer registration stations in southern Wisconsin where hundreds of deer were checked in a day.

In all that time, he never saw a piebald deer.

"Every so often I hear about people seeing them," Craven said. "But they've avoided me."

Piebald deer are legal game in Wisconsin during hunting seasons, whereas white deer are protected.

Two piebald deer run in a field.(Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

But hunters have a wide range of opinions on whether they'd shoot a piebald deer. Some see them as unique trophies, others as too beautiful to kill.

Some also express regret after taking a piebald deer.

David Osborn, wildlife research coordinator at the University of Georgia Deer Research Facility, killed a mature piebald buck that he'd watched for several years.

"Seeing him on trail cameras, and occasionally in the field, was such a part of our experience during deer season that I’ll really miss not having him around this season,” Osborn said in a 2014 Realtree.com post titled "Should You Hunt Piebald Deer?" by Will Brantley.

This much is clear: Piebald and other unusually-colored deer are a fascinating subject for the public at large.